Snap hook



Patented Nov. 16, 1943 ferpli-cannnfpember 12, leugsensingasswst .l 2claim.. (70112474236).

This invent-'ion relates VAtcfi-renaud; usefulimprovements in snap hooks'havin-'ga spring tongue vand also aloop t'o--serve "as agstra-pterminal. Snap hooks of this `jge'rieral fchafracter r4arejvvell knownin the "art andjserve a-largewariety' of purposes. Among thern"anyiorrns'ofsnclrsnapv hooks, 'the *most cominonlh'as been-oneintvvhich the hook'lernent- "is 'fashioned from a'short ,length 1fof-heavy wire 'which-.visi fcijce-litt-ed, Lorl otherwise secured, in'an vopening formed in vav casting; which includes theloop whichreceives the strapv terreceptionoi the' spring tongue. Y

' One of th'eprincip" @objects-'ofthe present invention is to provideVan improvedh 'snap'hook Whereinth'e'hookelementandthelo'opieiement,are,formed yfrom 'a singley 'lengtncf Wire; Thespring 'tonguev issecuredja'dja'cent thegJunt'ion 'of the 'nook 4shan-k and the mop; by .anovel rretain'mt? min'al. 'The castingralsohas'an opening" for the'`"means r'formed from 'a blank"of,"'atfSheetmtal whichisappropriatelvbent to' pro'vd'e'a'sleeve @portion which encircles theloop, and anothersleeveportion which encircles the hook shank. r

The snap hook of the present invention, in addition to being muchstronger than the earlier one formed with the casting just described,isy much less expensive vto construct and gives a neater appearance.

The total Weight of metal used in the -hook of theY present invention isless than in the oldertypes, and the improved snap hooks can be turnedout much more rapidly than can the cast variety.V

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snaphook wherein the springr tongue is much more firmly anchored than in theearlier devices of the art. The anchoring means, formed from a blank ofsheet metal, as aforesaid, inV addition to firmly securing the springtongue, also imparts additional strength and rigidity to the entirestructure, giving it4 Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken vthroughthe spring-tongue-retaining element.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

' Fig. 4`6is `ja planvview-'o'theblank usedvinfform'- jing the-sprin'g-"tongue-retaining element. 1 if' Fig. 'T'isab'ottomplan-viewof-a form lof the present invention.

Fig. v 11 is a" plan view. of the s'p'ringetongue retaining element. n yn y f y 4fn accordance withfth'e present invention, bofth the hookandthe loopiareformed from alsingle length of wire. AThe vgaugel offw'irelused isjoi icour'se, av matter of choicer'depending vupon thetensile 4strength desire/d.' One endo'f the wireis bent to `formv the.loop I0, V`which, in `l"the, form shown;isggenerailyrectangular'inshape and com-j Y prises an., outer #portion I, I" and an inner4 portionl2, tgwll, @appreciated circular r'oranjy #other desired shape. Thevoppo-y `-site end of 'the'wirelis bentftoform th'eliotkpor-r tionvI3,-Which ispreferably attened atits tern minal, as shown at I4.. Theintermediate or shank portion I5. is `desirably straight through thegreater portion of its length, but may also be apl propriately bent toform an oiset portionIS be.

tweenY the main shank portion I5 and its point of junction with the loopportion I0, all as shown in Fig. 3.

' The spring tongue I8 engages the inner surface l of thev hook terminalat its outer end, and surface Y -I 9 formed by oiset portion I6 servesas a seat for the spring adjacent to its inner terminal, which latter iscurved, as shown at 20, and encircles the 2I of which is bent to form a.sleeve 22 which lies transversely ofthe blank and which encircles theinner portion I2 of loop I0 and rmly secures the inner terminal 20 ofthe spring tongue, as aforesaid.` It Will also be noted that this sleeve22 rmly secures the free end of the Wire in axial alignment with theopposite end of portion I2 of the loop, and thus .imparts a high measureof rigidity to the loop I0.

The opposite portion 24 of the blank is appropriately bent to formanother sleeve 25 which lies longitudinally of the blank, and whichelmbraces the offset shank portion IE. The blank is further formed withan opening 21 which receives the spring tongue, and cut-out portions V8tion l2 of the` loop,{thus Ycompletely encircling the same.`

, It will be 'appreciated thatV the precise shape ofthe metal blank mayvary considerably without departing from the. spirit of the invention,as dened by the appended claims-In certain'in-Y` stances, forinstance,it maybedesirablefto provide a longer sleeve 22, andit alsomaybe de'j sirable to extend the length of sleeve 25..A VVThis is allwithin the skill of the die-maker, the essentialv feature being toprovide integrally-connected;

loops lyingY at right angles to each other and forming a Yiirm(connecting. element between the shank of the hook and thestrap-receiving loop, 'n

as wellV as providing rmeans, for firmly Vanchoring the spring tongue.

In the modiedform 4 y in Figs. 7-11, inclusive, the loop 35 and the hook36,Y with the intermediate shankportionfB'l, may

be formedv as in the ii'rstv embodiment of -thefinvention. In :thisinstance, the aperture lshown at 2`| in the blank of Fig. 6 iseliminated., and portion v38 of theblank of Eig. 11 is bent to form theVseam 35 of sleev'e'lll onthe'top, rather than on the bottom, of thedevice. Portion 4l of the Y blank is bent to forrn` sleeve 42 whichvencircles portion 43 of loop 35. In this embodiment, spring 46 isprovided at its inner end with the` circular portion 41 which encirclesinner,portion43 of loop 3 5, and'if desired, portion 4| of the Ablank,may be so cut along .linesj as to form ylinger 40 a'point between thetwo 'sleeves throughwhilch Y portion 5| which engagesmspring tongue 46fand lremains it in engagement with'rits seat. The blank may furtherhavefearslvlilV which engage ,the opfpgsedlengeskof sparingV 4t.`ni'tnis vform ofthe l therinvention shown invention, the blank formingthe anchorage element may also differ considerably in shape from .thatshown in Fig. 11.

What I claim is:

5. Y 1. A snap hook comprising hook and loop elements formed from acontinuous length of material, a spring tongue engaging the hook elementVat its outer end and encircling a portion of the loop Velement at itsinner end adjacent to the l0 point of connection between the loop andhook elements, and combined means for securing the tongue andV forstrengthening the two elements,

vsuch means being formed from a blank of sheet Vmetal Vshaped -to form asleeve at one end thereof lrfvvh'icli encirclesthe loop adjacent to themountfing of ithe inner endV of the spring, and being further shaped atthe opposite end thereof to form a sleeve disposed at substantiallyright any gles to the mst-mentioned sleeve, and which en- 2'0 circlesthe shank of the hook element, the blank .having a. central openingtherein through which the spring tongue passes. .2. A snap hookcomprising hook and looplelements formed yfrom a continuous length ofwire, 25 a, tongue engaging the hook element at its outer ,end andengaging a portion of the loop element at' its limer end adjacent to thepoint of connection between the loop andvhook elements, and

retaining means for the tongue, such means be- `30 ing Vformed from ablank of sheet metal shaped to form a sleeve at one end thereof whichencircles the loop and the inner end of the spring, rsuch sleeve alsoretaining the terminal of the Wire in` alignment with the adjacentportion of 35 the loop, such blank being further shaped at the oppositeend thereof to form a sleeve disposed at substantially right angles tothe mst-mentioned sleeve, V'andzvvhich encircles the shankjof the hookelement, 'the blank having an opening therein at thetongue passes. Y 4

' HARRY KONIKOFF.v

